GniksaM sdrawkcaB (Backwards Masking)
"gniksaM sdrawkcaB (Backwards Masking)" is the eighteenth episode of the Oddity Archive. Summary Ben tackles the great "backwards masking in music" conspiracy by taking selections from his CD collection and reversing them in search of hidden messages. Songs Tested *#"Summer Wind" by Frank Sinatra *#"All Apologies (Unplugged)" by Nirvana *#"Take Care the Road You Choose" by Richard Thompson *#"One Good Night Deserves Another" by Steve Wariner *#"Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" by the Royal Guardsmen *#"She's So French" by Benny Mardones *#"Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine" by Bob Dylan *#"Light as a Feather" by Redbone *#"White Christmas" by David Seville and the Chipmunks *#"I Need a Lover" by Pat Benatar *#"Gypsy Queen" by Van Morrison *#"Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" by Rupert Holmes Honorable Mentions: *#"I Believe (Sweet Lord Jesus)" by Dion *#"Trouble Again" by Linda Ronstadt *#"My Impersonal Life" by Three Dog Night *#"Oklahoma Song" by Hoyt Axton *#"Violin" by Kate Bush "Messages" "Summer Wind": *"Hey, I'll sue Satan!" (part of "And guess who sighs his lullabies?") **Ben later uses this as an example of "and" sounding like the the second syllable of Satan when played backwards, especially when right before a word ending in an "s" sound and poorly enunciated. "All Apologies (Unplugged)": *"I was on a..." repeatedly ("All in all is all we are..." repeatedly) *"Buried" seems to sound like "Heroin" backwards *"My sundae! My sundae..." ("In the sun, in the sun...") "Take Care the Road You Choose": *"A f*g for lunch..." ("Not looking for ghosts behind me") **As Thompson is English, Ben assumes this was the slang term for cigarettes and not the homophobic Americanism "One Good Night Deserves Another" *"(indecipherable)... the axe in the rocks... (indecipherable)" ("...and light every star in the sky if we're good to ourselves...") "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" *"...buried up in the Salisbury elf" ("Snoopy fired once, and he fired twice/And that bloody Red Baron went spinnin' out of sight") **Ben immediately excuses this word salad by stating that any "message" only ever had to be decipherable, not necessarily make sense. **Ben finds the actual line violent enough to remark "Wait, this is a kids' song, right?" "She's So French" *"Send for seech" repeatedly ("She's so French" repeatedly) *Remarks on how it sounds backwards. "Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine" *"She said, 'Hey, I love thy Satan!'" ("Yes, and I'll go last") *"Oh, Minnie" (doesn't give an actual line, just remarks on the unfortunate mental image it gave him) "Light as a Feather" *"Who knows Nick? Who knows Nick?" ("It's gonna, it's gonna...") *Remarks on how it sounds backwards. "White Christmas" *"Eh, good ham" (part of "And may all your Christmases be white") *Notes that the orchestra sounds drunk when played backwards. "I Need A Lover" *"This shit makes you sloppy, and it makes me puke...(indecipherable)" ("Now, I'm not askin' to be loved or be forgiven...") "Gypsy Queen" *"Yeah, a roll stoned me" ("You know it's all right...") "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" *"Yes, an alien must know" ("Write to me and escape") *"Ah, sure, you'd believe in that" "I Believe (Sweet Lord Jesus)" *No usable or interesting phrases, but Ben did make out "Church, nativity" and notes that the word "church" sounds the same backwards "Trouble Again" *No usable phrases, but there is a partial phrase: "Play the (indecipherable) push knee back" ("You got me in trouble again") "My Impersonal Life" *No usable phrases, but Ben remarks that the song played backwards "sounds like a Native American chant sung in Japanese" "Oklahoma Song" *No decipherable phrases whatsoever, but Ben notes that Axton sounds both possessed and constipated "Violin" *No decipherable phrases whatsoever, but the violin played backwards sounds truly bizarre Running Gags *Opening Theme: "Pavanned" by Ben Minnotte *Closing Theme: "namoW tsuD dloG" by caM doowteelF *Company Name: sadaloC aniP ekiL uoY fI Productions *Very End Clip: Ben going "Pfft" at "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)". *The Show That: "Rushes in where angels fear to tread. We're funny that way." *Cardboard Box: None (he instead holds up a copy of Appetite For Destruction by Guns 'n' Roses). *Join Us Next Time: "When I suffer a rock-and-roll-induced mental breakdown, don a judge's robe and impersonate Stevie Nicks. It'll be fun!" Trivia *Due to the sheer tonnage of music in this episode, it was not allowed to be posted onto YouTube before it was re-edited in 2015. Video Category:Episodes